How to See Grand Prismatic Spring: Yellowstone National Park Wyoming

Grand Prismatic Spring is one of Yellowstone National Park’s most famous spots, and there’s a reason for it– it’s gorgeous! Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in the USA, and third largest in the world. How to see Grand Prismatic Spring? Well, there are two ways to visit the Grand Prismatic Spring – from the boardwalk level and from a viewpoint.

Details

Time commitment:
Boardwalks: 30-45 minutes
Fairy Falls hike to the viewpoint: 30-45 minutes
This doesn’t include finding a parking spot.

If you are pressed for time, I recommend doing the overlook hike at Fairy Falls trailhead. This will give you the insta-worthy pictures that you want.

Location:
The main viewing and boardwalk area for the Grand Prismatic Spring is located in the Midway Geyser Basin, on the west side of the Grand Loop Road.

If you want a view of Grand Prismatic Spring, you’ll need to park in the Fairy Falls trailhead parking lot and hike part of the trail to the overlook. The Fairy Falls trailhead is located just south of the parking lot for Grand Prismatic Spring.

Crowds:
I have been to Yellowstone National Park 7 times. This is the #1 most crowded spot in the park. Every time I go to the park, there is a huge traffic jam starting at the Fairy Falls trailhead parking lot up until passing the Grand Prismatic Spring parking lot. Cars are piled along the side of the road – it’s an absolute madhouse.

So I don’t enjoy visiting the Grand Prismatic Spring – I’ve just lost all patience with it. In all my visits to the park, I’ve been to the boardwalk section once and the Fairy Falls trail once. I just drive right on by because I don’t want to deal with the parking situation.

Your best bet is to get here first thing in the morning – like before 9 am, or in the evening, after 6pm. Any other time of day, and you’ll be fighting off the crowds. This is true even in shoulder season: May and September/October. The Grand Prismatic Spring is best viewed in full sunlight on a bright and sunny day – as you can see from my pictures, that wasn’t the case in either of my trips here.

All of the above apply to both the Fairy Falls trailhead parking and Grand Prismatic Spring parking lots. Each lot is huge but it’s still never enough.

Visiting from the boardwalk level

Unfortunately, when you visit this at the boardwalk level — which, judging by the massive amount of people on the boardwalks, is where most folks go — you really can’t see much, except a bunch of steam. From this angle, it looks like pretty much every other spring at Yellowstone, except this one is gigantic. And honestly, it’s disappointing.

That said, I still recommend walking the boardwalks here if you have the chance, especially if you have a clear sunny day – as it is impressive to see how big it is. It’s also accessible, whereas the Fairy Falls trail is not. Additionally, there are other hot springs to explore along the boardwalks.

During my first trip to Yellowstone, I did not know about the Fairy Falls viewpoint, so I walked away disappointed, with a bunch of shots of steam that went straight into the recycle bin.

The steam pretty much blocks all the rainbow colors when viewed from the boardwalks but that’s not the worst part. You see, the boardwalks go right over the spring, so you’re smack-dab on top of the spring. Being that you’re so close to that hot, bubbling water, it’s all too tempting for tourists to want to toss shit in the hot water and watch what happens when it boils and melts.

I get it – I’m curious too. You totally want to toss that brochure the park ranger gave you when you paid your entrance fee into the spring to watch what happens. But dude, don’t. Even if you see another tourist making wishes and tossing pennies into Grand Prismatic Spring, DON’T. This is not a wishing well at the mall or a lobster boil. There are warning signs posted everywhere telling people not to toss foreign objects into the spring. Park rangers are lurking in the area and won’t hesitate to give you a hefty fine.

On our visit, we saw lots of coins, sunglasses, scarfs, ball caps and even a rogue cowboy boot simmering in the water. Lovely.

If you REALLY want to see what happens when you toss a pen into hot water, boil a pot of water back at your campsite and toss it in. I promise you, it’s really not that thrilling.

Fairy Falls Hike to Grand Prismatic Spring Overlook Hike

This is the best viewpoint, IMO.

If you want to see this spring in colors that would make Rainbow Brite blush, you’re going to have to take the Fairy Falls hike. This is where you can get that signature photo of the Grand Prismatic Spring in all its colorful glory.

The hike is relatively easy – it’s 1.2 miles round trip and I hiked it in flip flops. Fairy Falls to Grand Prismatic Spring Overlook is a very crowded trail – I hiked in late May, which is shoulder season, and it was still extremely crowded.

After the viewpoint, you can continue on your hike to Fairy Falls. I chose to return to the parking lot, as it looked like a thunderstorm was moving in.

Grand Prismatic Spring – Pros and Cons

Pros:
It’s beautiful when viewed from above, from the Fairy Falls trail

Cons:
Unbearably crowded and the parking situation is horrific.
All you’ll see is steam from the boardwalk area
To get the maximum rainbow effect, you have to have good luck with the weather – bright, clear sunny days